June 26, 2006
Staci Johnson/Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202- 358-7232/1761
Debbie V. Nguyen
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
RELEASE: 06-248
NASA'S "WEIGHTLESS WONDER" HOST EXPERIMENTS
NASA has selected six proposals from museums and science centers to
fly their experiments aboard NASA's "Weightless Wonder," a C-9
aircraft that flies a series of rollercoaster-like dips and climbs to
produce periods of weightlessness.
The selected institutions have partnered with their local communities
to propose and design experiments for NASA's new Reduced Gravity
Museum and Science Center Flight Opportunities Program. The museums
and science centers promote science, technology, engineering,
mathematics, and education careers to students in their
neighborhoods.
The program began with a successful test flight in 2004. This year,
six teams from across the country will fly during the summer from
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Museums and science centers
will have similar opportunities available annually.
"Museums and science centers engage students and the community to
learn about science and space. Through this program, participants
will have a chance to experience the same processes used by NASA
researchers to fly experiments in space and bring that experience
back to their communities," said Chuck Lloyd, Program Manager for
NASA's Human Health and Performance Education at Johnson. This is a
part of NASA's Informal Education program.
NASA's informal education efforts provide stimulating experiences for
learning outside of formal classroom environments. Our nation's
museums and science centers use NASA content to inspire youth and
engage them in NASA's mission.
The selected teams, their experiments, and the dates they will arrive
in Houston to begin their flights are:
- July 6: The St. Louis Science Center in Missouri -- Testing Gene
Expression in Reduced Gravity through Microarray Technology - Aug. 3:
Boonshoft Museum in Dayton, Ohio -- Emergency Severe Wound
Containment/Treatment Device Evaluation: An Effective Deployment
Feasibility Experiment
- Aug. 3: Hands On! Regional Museum, Johnson City, Tenn. -- The
Sustainability of a Spherical Soap Film (Bubbles) in Microgravity
- Aug. 3: McWane Center, Birmingham, Ala. -- Effects of Microgravity
on Fluid Distribution in a Porous Material
- Aug. 10: The Coca Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, Ga. --
Predicting Heat Flow in Microgravity
- Aug. 10: Space Center Houston -- Fluid Dynamics in Flight.
For information about the Reduced Gravity Museum Flight Opportunities
Program, visit:
http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/museum/ For information about NASA's education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education -end-
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